Purpose of SSIPI

SSIPI aims at establishing an institutionalized policy-based visiting scholars program focusing on Lebanon and the Arab world that offers outstanding scholars the opportunity to develop a piece of research at Stanford University as well as gain familiarity with the policy community in Washington DC. The objective is to promote new scholarship that can be integrated and used in policy circles. In the long term the program will show Lebanon’s strategic value in the Middle East to help strengthen policies that seek to support strong democratic Lebanese institutions. The program may also expand to include regional issues of importance to Lebanon.

Eligibility of Applicants

Scholars are chosen on a competitive basis and may be academics or practitioners from anywhere in the world who are doing work on the topic indicated in the scheme’s call for applications.

Selection Criteria

The selection committee invites applicants with a record of outstanding work in areas related to political and economic reform, development, rule of law, democracy and good governance to apply to SSIPI. The selection committee welcomes applicants from academia, the public and private sectors, and NGOs, either from the United States or abroad, who are working on the topic specified by the call for applications. Applicants must respond to the call for papers and submit a draft of research in progress to the selection committee along with a statement showing how their research would benefit SSIPI. One scholar would be chosen for each interval to spend 6 weeks in the USA as a resident scholar (in Washington and Stanford) and, additionally, up to 2 runners up would be invited to present their research at a policy conference in Washington, DC.

Structure

SSIPI involves a one or two week visit by the Safadi scholar to Washington DC to gain experience with the policy and think tank community; a four-week residency at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University; and two-three days in Washington DC for the policy conference at the end of the residency. During the residency period, scholars are expected to produce a publishable paper based on their research and to then present the research at a policy conference in Washington DC. During the initial visit to Washington DC, Safadi Foundation USA will organize a series of meetings for the Safadi scholar. The objective of these meetings will be to acquaint the scholar with the Middle East foreign policy-making environment and to meet with relevant US policymakers pertinent to the research at hand. As a result of these meetings, the scholar is expected to be able to assess policy gaps and integrate creative and innovative ideas into the proposed paper that will be drafted during residency at Stanford. While at Stanford the Safadi scholar will have the opportunity to participate in seminars and to interact with faculty, researchers and other visiting scholars and will be granted library privileges and office space. A flat-rate stipend is provided to the scholar to cover expenses. The paper produced by the scholar would be published through the Program on Good Governance and Political Reform in the Arab World at Stanford University in partnership with Safadi USA.